Many knives and related cutting and stabbing implements are known in the prior art. Many of these knives include a handle unit and a blade that pivots within the handle unit such that the blade may be folded away within the handle when not in use and may be folded into an open position during use. When folded, such a knife may be conveniently and safely carried in a pocket, backpack or any other convenient location. When opened, however, such a knife may not be safe to use. For instance, the blade of such a knife can close while being used, and injure the user.
In an effort to alleviate this problem, at least one prior art folding knife includes a spring biased locking member that interacts with the blade to lock the blade into an open position. While this arrangement will offset problems noted above, the improvement is costly to implement and may further be subject to wear and subsequent failure.
Other knives are non-folding. Although such a knife may be used without fear of the blade folding back on the user, an exposed blade poses difficulties during periods of non-usage. Typically, such a knife must either be stored within a sheath or within some other container that will protect the blade from harm and that will protect the user from the blade.
There exists a need for a locking knife apparatus that combines the convenience and safety of a folding knife with the safety during use features of a non-folding knife.